Sylvania



O. S..SCHAIRER.

GEAR SHlFTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED 056.26. 1913.

1,363,674. Patented Dec. 28, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l- INVENTI R ATTORNEY 0. s. VSCHAIRER.

GEAR SHIFTING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED DEC, 26. I913.

1,363,674. Patented Dec. 28, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- F/g-J INVENTOR 75 47 an 5.3M

ATTORNEY' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OTTO S. SCHAIRER, OF EDGEXVOOD IPA-.RK. PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WESTING- HOUSE ELECTRIC AND BIANUFAGTURING C0135 ANY, A CORPORATION OF PENN- SYLVANIA.

GEAESI-IEFTING' EKIECHANISM.

Application filed December 26, 1313.

To (11 107mm it may concern:

Be it known that I, Orro S. SorL-unnn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Edgewood Park, in the county of Allegheny and State 0i Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gear-Shifting Mechanism, oi which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to gear shifting mechanism for automobiles and other vehicles or devices, and it relates particularly to mechanism of the kind in which the selection of the gears to be meshed is eil'ected by means-of a suitable controller upon the steering post, or otherwise conveniently located, and the meshing or shitting of the gears is caused or effected by depressing the clutch pedal beyond its clutch-diseiuraging position or by any other suitable means.

One object of my invention is to provide avmechanism of this character that shall be simple in construction and reliable in operation, and in which the selection of the pea rs may be effected in advance of the shifting operation.

A further object is to so construct and arrange the parts of the device that, wheir selective solenoids are employed, they may be stationary, thus avoiding the necessity of employing flexible connections to them.

It has heretofore been proposed to dispense with the manually operated lever that is usually employed for shitins; the gears in a speed-changing transmission, and to substitute therefor a conveniently located set of buttons or other controller for gov ernin r the circuits of solenoids that effect the shiftingof the gears. In a device of this character, it is necessary that the solenoids shall be large, in order to be suiticiently powerful to directly shift the gears, with the result that the device is relative y heavy andcxpensive and'requires consider-- able battery capacity for its eiiiective oper ation.

In thedevice of the present invention, solenoids may be employed for the purpose of selecting the gears to be shitted, but the shifting itself is effected by the driver ot the vehicle, as, for instance, by depressing the clutch pedal beyond clutchn'eleasing or disengaginsr position. The shifting apparatus is therefore light, compact and inexpensive, and such solenoids as may be employed are stationary, so that no flexible Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 28, 1920.

Serial No. 808,735.

section, of the transmission mechanism of an automobile and its related parts. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the gear shifting mechanism. Fig. at is a view in longitudinal section of the mechanism of Fig. Figs. 5 and 6 are views of details. Fig. 7 is a .ectional view of the mechanism of Fig. 3. F S is a view in section on line VIIIVIII of Fig. 3. Fig. 9 is a diagrann matic view of the electrical circuits employed in connection with my invention and of the mechanism for controlling a set of push buttons that control the circuits.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2-, an automobile chassis 1, only a portion of which isshown, is provided with a gas engine 2 havinga fly wheel 3. A transmis sion mechanism or change-speed ,Q'ear mechanism lis connected to the engine 2 by a shaft 5 and a conical clutch member 6 that is slidably mounted on the shaft 5 to coact with a correspondingly shaped clutch member 7 that is integral with the fly wheel 3. The clutch member 6 is provided with an integral grooved collar 8 to be engaged by a yoke member 9 that has a pivotal support upon a l acket 10. A pedal 11, that is adapted to be operated by the foot of the operator, has a pivotal support upon a lug 12 and is connected by a linl; 13 to the yoke member S). A. springl -l, that is attached at one end to a suitable stationary part, normally retains the clutch pedal 11 in its rearward position with the clutch member 6 migraging the fly wheel 3. The clutch pedal it is provided with an extended portion 15 that is connected by a link 16 to a gear shifting mechanism indicated broadly at 17.

The transmission mechanism l "forms no part of my invention but is combined therewith, so that a description thereof is, accordingly, desirable in order to explain the operation of the gear shitting mechanism.

The shaft 5, which is connected to the ensg'inc clutch 6, extends into the transmission casing; 18 through an end wall 19 ot the casing and has a bearing therein. A gear wheel 20, having two sets of gear teeth 21 a sponding to the energized solenoid will be raised to prevent the respective hook portions 53 from engaging the shoulder portions with which they react. The arm 52 that is not raised will engage its coacting shoulder portion 50 and a further movement 01 the sliding blocks 1 1 and 15. will cause a shitting of the rod 42 or 13, as the case may be, to shift one or the other of the slidable gear wheels 26 and 27 in the same direction. Each of four self-closing limit switches (33, which are mounted in pairs in each end of the casing 10, comprises a movable member G 1 which is actuated by one of the lugs 62 when the corresponding shift rod has reached the limit 01 its endwise movement. Each limit switch 63 controls the circuit of one of the solenoids, the arrangement being such that the circuit of the solenoid that has been energized to cause the shifting of one oi the rods 42 and d3, when the blocks 14; and are moved apart, is always broken by the corresponding limit switch that is opened at the end of the movement of the said rod which causes meshing of the transmission gear wheels.

The connection of the reel; shaft 18 to the lever 47 is controlled by a mechanism comprising a solenoid that is supported by a bracket 66 attached to the side walls of the housing 4.0. The solenoid G5 is provided with an armature 67 having the form of a disk and having a notch 68 in its periphery to coact with a curved stationary member 69 attached to the solenoid casing 70. The armature 67 is attached. to a movable core member 71 having a rod 72 integral therewith. A spring '1' 2 normally holds the armature 67, the core member 71 and the rod 72 in their respective upper positions. A collar member 73, which is attached to the rod 72 at its lower extremity, is provided with pins 74 which project into correspond ing holes 75 in the lever 17. The rock shaft 18 is provided with a fixed collar 76 having holes 76 which register with the pins 7-1! and the holes 7 5 only when the clutch member 6 is disconnected. The pins 7 1 project into the holes 76 to connect the lever 11? and the shaft 48 when the solenoid 5 is energized and the corresponding parts are in register.

The notch 68 of the disk 67 registers with the stationary member 09 only when the several blocks 4. 1 and 15 and dogs 51, that are connected by the lever 17 to the rod 72, are in their normal or neutral positions, as illustrated in l igs. 3 and 4. Consequently, if these parts not in their normal positions, the armature 67 is held downward by the stationary member 69, and the pins 7 1 are held within the holes 76 until the various parts are in their respective normal or neutral positions, regardless of the dei nergizing of the coil The electrical circuits for controlling the. gear shitting mechanism are illustrated in Fig. 9. The electrical connections. comprise five parallel circuits which are respectively controlled by push buttons 77, 78, 7 9, S0 and 81. The SCVGl'ill push buttons are designated according to the speed ratio controlled by them as 3rd, 2nd, 1st, N (neutral), and R (reverse), respectively. The push buttons 77, 78, 79 and 81 are so interlocked that only one button can be actuated at one time and this. one remains closed until another button has been actuated. The button 80, or neutral button, is arranged to open as soon as released after actuation. The solenoid coils 91-, 95, 96 and 97 are in series with the push buttons 77, 78, 79 and 81, respectively, and with the corresponding limit switches 63. The winding (35" of the solenoid 65 is in series with each of the parallel circuits and with a battery 82.

The means employed to interlock the push buttons forms no part 0t the present invention, but a brief description of the same is desirable in order to explain the operation 01 my invention. Each push button, except the neutral button 80, is provided with a head portion 98 having a notch or groove 99 to be engaged by coacting portions 100 of a spring pressed slidable member 101 when the button has been depressed to bring the groove 99 into register with the portions 100. The several push buttons comprise inclined portions 102 and reduced portions 103 which project downwardly tl'irough slots 10st in the member 101, and are provided with lugs or bosses 105. The lugs 105 are wedge shaped at one end to be inserted be tween the ends of bars 106 that are slidably mounted between two suitable stationary parts 107 and 108. The distance between the stationary parts 107 and 108 is equal to the sum of the lengths of the several bars 106 and the width of one of the lugs 105, thereby insuring that only one 01 the. push buttons may be fully depressed at one time. When one oil. the buttons is depressed, the lug 105 is inserted between the ends of the correspoiniling bars 106 and the groove 99 is engaged by the coacting portion 100 to lock it in its depressed position, with the corresponding contact members 109 cugaged. When it is desired to close a second circuit, the corresponding button is pressed, and the inclined portion 102 engages the locking portion 100 to slide the member 101 to the left and thereby release the first push button before the lug 105 has engaged the corresponding bars 106. The neutral button 80, which is not provided with a groove 99,

operates to release any other button which may have been locked in position to close its corresponding circuit.

It may be assumed that the transmission gear mechanism is in its neutral position,

inwardly so that it cannot obs t movement of the corresponding dog 51 aua lug 62. The coil (35 of the sale i." also energized to draw the armature til", core member 71 and rod 72 down'uuurdly insert the pins 74 into the holes 76 and thereby connect the reel: shalt 318 to the lever 47 when the several coiiespr parts are in register. The clutch pm i, which, at the time of startingthe c e, is in such a position that the en ch (5 is disengaged or out, is then or, 1f

wardly beyond this position. The then rotates the rocl; shaft 48 a crank arm 82, and the lever erated to actuate the blocks l V wardly, the hook portions e5 0: line arms 59 sliding along the grooves 49. ll heu the hook portions 53 approach the shou d the arms 54, with the excepl' i coacting with the solenoid. 9s, the corresponding stops 5.), and the dogs are ro-zked about their pivots to raise the arms 52 from the grooves 4-9. l urther movement of the blocks causes the dog; 51. that is not rocked to eng'r ;e the rod and move it to the right (higi s. 3

and l) to mesh the gear wheel 26 with the gear.- wheel 29.

When the gear wheels 26 and 9/9 meshed, the lug 62 will haw 4, corresponding limit s vitch 6% o brcal: the circuit comprising the coil. and the coil The operator then allows the spring 1%. to retract the clutch pedal 11. The bloclrs r- Ll\/ clutch is still out when the various parts are in their respective normal or neutral positions. Further return. movement out the clutch pedal will ei'lezrt the en go the engine clutch and the 'veh' driven through the connections above scribed.

The circuit controlled by the push button 79 will. remain open until another button has been pressed and the gears shifted from the .iirst speed position. The limit switch will remain open until, the shift rod 42 has is -l returned to \vitl'id aw tho lug (32 from engagement with the switch member 6 Tllhe coil 65 cannot be energized until all button other than ll) pressed. It is, thcrejlbre, impossible to connect the lever ill" o i the shifting mechanism to the clutch pedal before a second button has been actuated. The clutch cal be con oiled as desired without in any any aii eeting the transnnssion gear nice as.

ll hcn it is desired to clan e the speed. ratio, as, for example, to second sg ieerl, the push button 78 may be pressed at any time 1 ed in advance oil *5 s ar-tual change. e coil 95 of the solenoid 9i and the coil (35 the groove 4.9 is near the coa ,t ng hook portion 53 oi the adjacent arm so that a slight outward movcn'icut oi the latter menibor rill. cause these parts to on, e. 7 iurl'lhcr act tion of the nodal, ll ai'l'er clutch is out, therefore, first operates to shift the rod 42 to its neutral position. At this point, all of the dogs e 3 it th t one controlled by the solenoid 91 have en ied their corresponding (reacting stops 5t? and the arms are rocked out o" engagement with the respective shoulders 50. But, since the coil 95 of the solenoid 91 is energized, the roacting dog 51 is still in o ierative position, and the further movement of the clutch pedal 11 causes the rod 43 to be shifted to the left and the wheel 27 to be shifted into mesh with the gear whee 30. The courting limit sw .ch (3 3 will then be opened and the coils 95 and G5 deenergized.

The release of the pedal ll hrst causes the bloclrs i l and 4:5 and the dogs 5i to be returned to their respective normal positions, whereupon the pins 74- are withdrawn. The further movement of the pedal by the spring luv l; clients the engagement of the engine clutch, and the vehicle will be driven at seccud speed. In the same manner, changes may be made to third speedv or the direction of drive reversed by avtuating the appro priate push buttons '77 an (l 81, respectively. It will, or course, be understood that, in order to reverse the direction of the vehicle, it is necessary to bring it to a stop before the clutch is thrown in.

hen it is desired to return either of the shiftable gear wheels 26 and 27 to the neutral position, the neutral button 80 is closed to energize the coil 65. This action may occur regardless of the closure of any of the speed-controlling buttons 77, 78, 79 and 81. The clutch is disengaged as before, whereupon the lever 47 is actuated by the rock shaft 48 to shift the blocks i i and el5 outwardly. The shifted rod is in a position to be engaged immediately by the appropri ate dog 51 to return it to its normal or neutral position. When the dogs 51 reach the steps 59, all of the arms 52 are rocked out of the grooves 49, since none of the controlling solenoids 90, 91, 92 and 93 are energized. It is then impossible to shift the gear wheels until one of the buttons, other than the neutral button 80, is closed.

It will be noted that I have provided a device which operates to effect any desired speed ratio between the engine and the driving wheels of a vehicle. The operator may anticipate any desired change of speed ratio by pressing the appropriate button at any time in advance of the actual change, because the shifting of the gears will occur only upon the actuation of the clutch pedal beyond its normal disengaging position. l Vhen the buttons are open, the operation of the clutch pedal can have no effect upon the position of the shiftable gear wheels. The change of speed ratio may be elected with a small effort 011 the part of the operator, and it does not require that his attention be diverted from the steering of the vehicle. These and many other advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which my invention appertains.

\Vhile I have illustrated and described a gear shifting system in which the selection is effected electrically, my invention may be utilized in connection with apparatus in which the selective function is effected by other and widely different means, as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a gear shifting mechanism, the combination with a shift rod, and two members movable longitudinally of the rod in opposite directions, of means carried by the said members for connecting them to the shift rod, and means for selectively controlling the said connecting means.

2. In a gear shifting mechanism,-the combination with a shift rod, and two members movable longitudinally of the rod in opposite directions, of means carried by the said members for connecting them to the shift rod, and electrical means for selectively controlling the said connecting means.

3. In a gear shifting mechanism, the combination with a shift rod, and two members movable longitudinally of the rod in opposite directions, of means carried by the said members for connecting them to the shift rod, and stationary solenoids for selectively controlling the said connecting means.

4;. In a gear shifting mechanism, the combination with a shift rod, and two members movable longitudinally of the rod in opposite directions, of means for connecting the said members to the shift rod, means for preventing the connection of the said parts, and means for selectively controlling the said preventive means.

5. In a gear shifting mechanism, the combination with a shift rod, and two members movable longitudinally of the rod in opposite directions, of means for connecting the said members to the shift rod, means for preventing the connection of the said parts, and electrical means for selectively controlling the said preventing means.

Ina gear shifting mechanism, the combination with a shift rod, and two members movable longitudinally of the rod in opposite directions, of means carriedby the said members for connecting the members to the shift rod, stops that prevent the connection of the said parts, and means for selectively withdrawing said stops.

7. In a gear shifting mechanism, the combination with a shift rod, and two members m "able longitudinally of the rod in opposite directions, of means carried by the said members for connecting the members to the shift rod, stops that prevent the connection of the said parts, and electrical means for selectively withdrawing said stops.

8. In a gear shifting mechanism, the combination with a shift rod, and two members movable longitudinally of the rod in opposite directions, of means carried by the said members for connecting the members to the shift rod, stops that prevent the connection of the said parts, electromagnets for withdrawing said stops, and means for selectively controlling the circuits of the electromagnets.

9. In a gear shifting mechanism, the combination with a stationary part, a shift member, and two members movable relatively to the shift member in opposite directions, of means for connecting the latter members to the shift member, means for preventing the connection of said members, and means carried by the stationary part for selectively controlling the said preventing means.

10. In a gear shifting mechanism, the combination with a plurality of shiftable members, and a plurality of members that are movable relatively thereto, of a plurality of pivotally mounted levers for connecting said movable members to said shiftable members, and means comprising stationary solenoids for controlling said levers.

11. In a gear shifting mechanism, the combination with a plurality of shift-able members, a plurality of movable members, a plumlity of pivotally mounted. levers fer connecting said movable members to saic {shiftable members, means for controlling the operation of each of said levers, means comprising an obstructing membet' and elem tremagnetie means for COZllJ'COHiillg said ohsul'ueting member.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto sub- Eff. O. Mmm, B. 15. HINJL 

